Shocking upset: Gardner beats top-seeded Clinton

SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / ALAN ARSENAULT
Gardner's Daniel Romero is called for charging against Cinton's Kyle Cutler during Sunday's game in Worcester.

WORCESTER -- Cinderella is wearing a floor-length, black-and-orange gown to the championship.

The season of the No. 13 Gardner boys' basketball team will continue on Saturday, after the Wildcats pulled off the upset of the tournament by throttling top-seeded Clinton, 61-42, in Sunday's Central Mass. Division 2 semifinal at WPI's Harrington Auditorium.

Gardner, the lowest seed in Division 2, improved to 11-12 overall with the chance to hit .500 when it takes on second-seeded St. Bernard's in Saturday's title game at Fitchburg State University's Recreation Center. Tip-off is slated for noon. The Gaels season concluded their run at 20-3.

The Wildcats have certainly picked the right time to hit their stride.

After clinching a playoff spot by finishing second in the Mid-Wach at 8-12, they have come away with a 12-point victory over Oxford and a hard-fought, two-point win at Blackstone-Millville.

Gardner saved its best performance for Sunday, shell-shocking one of the Central Mass. and a team that had already defeated the Wildcats twice during the regular season.

As the old adage goes, it's difficult to beat a team three times in one year.

"We knew we were a good team; I've been saying that all year long," Gardner head coach Tim Caouette said. "When we play well and when we come out like we did today, we can play with anyone in the state. We just did it on the biggest stage that we could.

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Gardner never trailed in this one, as it jumped out to a 17-1 lead through the first 5:25. Behind otherworldly play from Malcolm Woodliff-Bulloch, solid defense by Jamison Kelley and some hard-nosed work on the glass by Devin Williams, the hoop seemed as large as the Grand Canyon and the Wildcats were simply tossing pebbles in.

Woodliff-Bulloch, who said afterward that he had slipped into the gymnasium at Mount Wachusett for some pre-game shooting Saturday morning, made it look so simple and effortless. He opened the game with a pair of 3-pointers before Williams hit a short shot in the paint to put Gardner ahead 8-0.

"We practiced hard against their 1-3-1, which they didn't get to run a lot because we just shot the ball so well," Caouette said. "We moved the ball well, we shot the ball well, and our defense got out on their shooters."

Mitch Ryan scored on an offensive rebound to make it a 10-0 game before Clinton called its first timeout 3:03 into the contest.

Clinton got onto the board with a free throw, but the underdogs kept things rolling as Woodliff-Bulloch, who scored all of his 21 points in the first half, hit an 18-footer with a defender in his face. A minute later, he hit his third triple of the quarter.

"He has that in him," Caouette said. "He's a special player and he had a special night."

One trip later, Kahlil Beauregard (17 points) swiped the ball away from the Gaels near midcourt for Clinton's seventh turnover and brought it back for the layup, putting a cap on the run.

Clinton managed to cut the deficit to 20-9 early in the second quarter, but one trip later, Woodliff-Bulloch drove the lane before dishing off to Williams (8 points, 8 rebounds) for an uncontested shorty, and then Beauregard hit one off the window.

With 55 seconds remaining in the half, Gardner managed to get the lead out to 39-13 after Woodliff-Bulloch recovered a loose ball and drove the lane, colliding with a Clinton player as he put it up.

He got the and-one, converting the old-fashioned three-point play.

Clinton wasn't going anywhere, though. The Gaels weren't the No. 1 seed for nothing, as they looked to put a damper on Gardner's upset bid. Clinton ripped off the first 14 points of the third quarter -- it had scored the last six of the first half -- to make it a six-point, 39-33 game.

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